Anti-terror consultant leaving post

Anemone, approved three weeks ago, taking New York job

`Glad we had him'

Ex-FBI chief eyed to create city police intelligence unit

October 17, 2001|By Caitlin Francke | By Caitlin Francke,SUN STAFF

The New York consultant hired last month to guide Baltimore's anti-terrorism efforts abruptly announced his departure yesterday, as police officials looked to hire a former FBI intelligence chief to help prevent attacks in the city.

Louis R. Anemone, whose six-month contract was approved just three weeks ago, was recruited for a job coordinating law enforcement efforts to combat terrorism in New York, city officials said.

Meanwhile, the Board of Estimates is expected today to approve a one-year, $95,000 contract for Richard J. Hunt, 57, the FBI's retired chief of criminal intelligence and the husband of the agency's special agent in charge for Maryland and Delaware. If the contract is approved, Hunt would help create an intelligence unit in the Police Department.

Police Commissioner Edward T. Norris said Anemone will complete Baltimore's anti-terrorism plan before he leaves, as early as next week. He should come back on weekends to help train officers how to carry out the plan and run drills, he said.

"We need him a lot," Norris said. "There's nobody better in the field."

It remains unclear exactly how much Anemone will be paid for the plan, which would establish emergency procedures to be used in the event of a terrorist attack. His contract called for $50 an hour, not to exceed $30,000 over six months. He could receive all or part of the money, Norris said.

"I don't know what portion of it he gets," Norris said. "We haven't sat down and done the bills."

Mayor Martin O'Malley also praised Anemone, saying he accomplished a lot in a short time. In addition to working on the plan, he improved evacuation routes and the response to bomb scares, the mayor said.

"He helped us condense about six months of work into three weeks of really packed days," O'Malley said. "Glad we had him while we had him."

Norris said he has been trying for more than a year to hire Hunt, who while with the FBI created 14 intelligence units across the nation that combined the efforts of federal agents and local law-enforcement officers.

"It's critical for cities right now" to have good intelligence, Norris said. "Between terrorism and drug gangs you got to know what is going on out there."

According to his contract, drafted about two weeks ago, Hunt will develop an intelligence plan; determine how to handle, store and track classified information; and set up liaisons with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

He is married to Special Agent Lynne A. Hunt, who oversees the FBI's operation in Maryland and Delaware.

Hunt's contract comes on the heels of complaints by Norris and O'Malley before a congressional subcommittee that the FBI in Washington was not sharing enough information with local police agencies about suspected terrorists.

O'Malley said he hopes that Hunt's 26-year FBI career will help the city secure more detailed information from the agency and forge a relationship between FBI headquarters and Baltimore police.

"I am hoping with his background he will be able to help us facilitate" a better relationship, O'Malley said. "It's a dangerous disconnect that we have to fix, given the current threats."

Hunt declined to comment about his new post, saying he wanted to wait until it was formally approved.

According to his resume, Hunt was most recently the director of federal law enforcement for Verizon Technology Corp. and GTE Enterprise Solutions, which merged in July 2000.

Before then, he worked at the FBI, rising from field agent in Omaha, Neb., to chief of the drug intelligence section.

From 1995 to 1998 he was chief of the criminal intelligence division at FBI headquarters in Washington, where he oversaw a $50 million budget and created an information-sharing system among local, state and federal agencies.